Sammy Hagar Launches New Rum & Restaurant Line

Sammy Hagar of Chickenfoot performs At The Roxy Theatre on May 19, 2009 in West Hollywood, California.

(credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Sammy Hagar is no stranger to having a good time. The former Van Halen frontman and current lead vocalist for the supergroup Chickenfoot, is perhaps just as famous for his Cabo Wabo chain of restaurants/nightclubs and brand of tequila by the same name as he is for his music. Hagar sold his Cabo Wabo tequila brand in 2007 for a cool $80 million, but has remained in control of his Cabo Wabo chain of cantinas. Having already conquered the tequila market, Hagar is turning his attention to rum.

In fact, he has just released Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, which describes itself as a premium quality silver rum. The rum uses only pure cane sugar from Hawaii, which is regarded as the best cane growing location in the world. The rum is hand-distilled on location in Maui, giving it a flavor unique to other rums. Hagar says, “If it explodes then we have a limit because it’s how much cane Hawaii can produce. That’s all because I wouldn’t get cane from Jamaica because then it wouldn’t taste like this.”

To complement the release of his new rum, Hagar has also started his second chain of restaurants – Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill. These restaurants were created to both promote the release of his rum and support Hagar’s philanthropic effort called The Hagar Family Foundation. This foundation was created by Hagar to help local community children’s charities. Proceeds from all five Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grill locations go to the foundation, which helps terminally ill children find treatment.

Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum is currently only available in California, Nevada and Arizona but will soon be expanding to other states. You can catch Sammy Hagar and Chickenfoot on tour during the next month. Remaining tour dates are listed below.